Arizona weekly enterprise., 1887-06-11
INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS. :
How Their Practicabi1ity and Imprac-
 ticability are Thoroughly Tested.


 ticability are Thoroughly Tested.
 ''Is this tho place where inventors ideas are put into practical shape?"
 ''Yes, this is where it is done."
 The reporter saw some very queer de vices, with workmen in greasy caps and overalls busily at work filing and punch ing iron and steel, and twisting or chisel- ing this or that part to make it fit. He came to the conclusion that he had struck the ground floor of inventions that were destined to be either great successes or great failures.
 Other men, evidently not connected with the establishment, were standing at the elbows of the workmen watching closely the result of the application of a file or a punch. There was an air of ab- sorbing interest about them, as if the fate of beloved child hung in the balance. Thought was evidently searching for its materialized body, and it depended largely on the power of the inventor to impart his idea to the workman and on the receptive power of the workman, coupled with the skill to mold and shape the metals, whether success or failure was ahead.
 sThe vast majority of inventors, , said the manager, s.are men of good ideas, but possessed of no mechanical knowl- edge. They come to us with their ideas. Most of them get their patents sometimes without having any working model, and are unablesto even test their ideas in the the ideas, and acc55fding 5fffiss as we iddss E them practical or the reverse. we experi-  turned away as many as three new inven- tions day because I considered them fmpracticable, refusing to take the in- ventors@ money to work them out. About one-half of all that come here are impracticable, CT if practicable, would be worth nothing to the public. We have had inventors get very angry because we wouldn't let them go on and spend money in trying to work out what we believed. from practical experience of forty years, could not be success. ''
 ''What is the trouble generally?''
 ''One great trouble is. that an inventor is not complete being. He lacks his practical half, and it is not until he finds that other half of him that he goes ahead. 1 Miother trouble is that they don t fully explain their invention, for fear somebody will steal it; so the experimenter has to work largely in the dark
 ''So men are in waiting to steal other peoples brains, are they?'
 s'Oh, yes. There are so many vacuuIns that if an idea once gets loose it is gob- bled up in flash. One great trouble with inventors as to the development of their inventions lies in the fact that very few of them have any capital. They need that and partner of practical cast of mind. ''
 .sHow is it when they sell out?''
 'fWen, an inventor hardly ever gets much for an incomplete invention if solo out plump. If he sells for royalty he generally gets cheated. No matter how high the firm stands that contracts tc pay a royalty, it nets him very little even when it brings large sums into the firms coffers. If there is being upor the earth that deserves sympathy ana help it is the poor inventor. If it were not for him mankind would scarcely have clothes to cover them. '
 ''Do you know any that have gol rich?"
 Here's one knew years ago, wher he was well off. He is now poor. H. has expended all hls money. His idea. are good, butsso far they have not beer largely successful. and he is selling othel peoples inventions while perfecting hi own. I have known a great many tha came here poor and have become rich There, for instance, is Howe. He nevel succeeded till Singer took hold and mad, fortune, and all Howe had out of i was his royalty on the eye of the needle After he got started and got practica man with him he made great fortune But he went around vainly begging fo help for two years. He got his meritet success at last, but there is many mal rolling in luxury to-day that was bough with the outcome of stolen brains, whil the rightful owner is starving
 ''What is your advice to inventors?''
 ''They must fit burglar alarm ol their ideas. Let them look very sharpl, at contract that agrees to the paymen of royalty. They must be sure ant find their missing half. They shoul, very carefully consider whether wha they are seeking to perfect will be of an, special value to the public if it be per fected.-New York Sun Interview.